Super for beehives.



No. 808,144. PATENTED DEC. 26, 1905.

W. W. DEMPSEY.

SUPER FOR BEEHIVES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 11. 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

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Attorneys PATENTED DEC. 26, 1905.

W. W. DEMPSEY. SUPER FOR BEEHIVES.

APPLICATION FILED MAYll. 1905 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

' Wi'iewz wem weg Witnesses Attorneys VVILBERN W. DEMPSEY, OF SIBLEY,IOWA.

SUPER FOR BEEHIVES- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 26, 1905.

Application filed May 11, 1905. Serial No. 259,947-

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that L WILBERN W. DEMPSEY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Sibley, in the county of Osceola and State of Iowa, haveinvented a new and useful Super for Beehives, of which the following isa specification.

This invention relates to beehives, and has for its object to provide animproved super or top therefor which has been arranged to permitobservation of the bees passing to and from the super without liabilityof the bees becoming free, to conveniently cut off communication betweenthe.hive and the top, and to enable convenient removal of the combframeswithout removing the top and without exposing the attendant to the bees.

Vfith these and other objects in view the present invention consists inthe combination and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter morefully described, shown in the accompanying drawings, and particularlypointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that changes inthe form, propor-' tion, size, and minor details may be made Within thescope of the claims without de parting from the spirit or sacrificingany of the advantages of the invention.

in the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a central vertical sectionalview taken through the top or super of the present invention seated upona beehive. Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view thereof. Fig. 3 is adetail sectional view on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a perspectiveview of the super of the present invention with the top removed and oneside let down.

Like characters of reference designate corresponding parts in each andevery figure of the drawings.

The body of the present device is in the nature of a box preferablyrectangular in form and includes a bottom 1, permanent sides 2, andfoldable sides 8, each of which is connected to the bottom by means ofhinges 4. There is also a removable cover 5, which is provided at eachend with a depending cleat or flange 6 to engage the outer face of theadjacent permanent side of the super, so as to prevent endwisedisplacement of the cover. It will here be explained that the cleats orflanges are at the permanent sides only of the device in order that thehinged sides may not be obstructed, and thereby to permit of said hingedsides being folded downwardly and outwardly without removing the coverWhenever access is desired to the interior of the device.

In the bottom of the super there is a longitudinal slot or opening 7with upright partitions 8 extending between the bottom of the device andthe top edge thereof at opposite sides of the opening 7 whereby theinterior of the super is divided into an intermediate compartment andopposite side compartments. The top of the intermediate compartment isclosed by a screen 9, while the tops of the other compartments areentirely open. Each partition 8 is provided with a series of uprightopenings or slots 10, and these slots are controlled by a slide 11working within the compartment in contact with the adjacent face of thepartition and provided with a series of slots 12 for alinement anddisalinement with the slots of the partition. Adjacent the inner end ofthe slide there is a guide-loop 13, carried by the partition andreceiving the slide, while the outer end of the slide projects through aslot 14 in one of the permanent sides of the device, so as to beaccessible for adjusting the slide. Within each of the side compartmentsthere is a series of combframes 15, which are arranged to have thejoints between the successive frames in alinement with the openings 10and 12 of the adjacent partition 8 and slide 11, the upright meetingedges of the frames being cut away or notched, as at 16, so as to formopenings through which the bees may pass from the intermediatecompartment into the combframes and back again into said intermediatecompartment.

In practice the present super is placed upon the top of a hive, aportion of aconventional form of hive being indicated at 17 in Fig. 1,care being taken to have the opening 7 in the bottom of the super inalinement with the opening 8 in the top of the hive, so as to permit ofthe unrestricted passage of the bees from the hive into the intermediatecompartment and back again into the hive. When the slides 11 are drawnoutward, the openings 12 thereof come into alinement with the openings10 of the partitions 8, whereupon the beesmay have access to thecomb-frames at opposite sides of the central compartment. It is proposedto limitthe outward slidable movement of each slide and to stop the samewhen its openings are in alinement with the openings of the adjacentpartition, a convenient manner of accomplishing this result being shownin Fig. 3, wherein it will be seen that the projecting end portion orhandle of each slide is somewhat reduced to form a shoulder 19 upon theslide, which shoulder is adapted to engage the adjacent permanent sideof the super to stop the slide when its openings come into alinementwith the openings of the adjacent partition. By reason of thescreen-cover 9 for the intermediate compartmen t the bees cannot escapetherethrough, while at the same time the condition of the bees may beconveniently viewed by removing the cover 5. When it is desired toremove the comb-frames, the slides are closed and the doors or hingedsides 3 are opened, whereupon the frames may be removed withoutsubjecting the attendant to the bees.

To permit viewing the interior of the combframes without removing thesame from the device, it is proposed to provide atransparent plate 20,of glass, isinglass, or the like, which is removably placed against theouter sides of each series of comb-frames, so that when either of thejaws or hinged sides is open the interiors of the frames may be viewedthrough the transparent plates and through the openings or notches 16 inthe outer sides of said frame.

From the foregoing description it will be understood that the presentsuper is entirely complete in itself and may be applied to any ordinaryform of hive having an opening in the top thereof with which the opening7 in the bottom of the super may be registered. Moreover, the device isconstructed to give access to all parts thereof for convenience incleansing the same and also to permit viewing of all parts of the devicewithout liberating the bees, whereby handling of the device ismaterially simplified.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is- 1. A super forbeehives comprising a re ceptacle divided into an cntrance-compartmcntand comb-frame compartments, the bottom of the entrance-compartmenthaving an entranceopening, the walls between the entrance-cempartmentand the comb-frame compartments being provided with openings affordingcommunication between the entrance-compartment and the comb framecompartments, means to control communication between theentrance-compartment and the comb-frame compartments, and removablesides for the comb-frame compartments.

2. A super for beehives comprising a receptacle divided into abee-compartment and a comb-frame compartment, the bee-compartment havingan entrance-opening in the bottom thereof, the wall between the twocompartments being provided with a series of openings, and a cut-ofislide to control the openings in the wall, one end of the slide beingreduced and projected through an opening in the receptacle to form ahandle for access from the exterior of the device, the reduced portionof the slide providing a shoulder to engage the adjacent wall of thereceptacle and limit the outward movement of the slide.

3. A super for beehives comprising a receptacle divided into abee-compartment and a comb-frame compartment, the bee-compartment havingan entrance-opening in the bottom thereof, a screen-cover for the top ofthe bee-compartment, the comb-frame compartment having a closure topermit access to the interior thereof, and means to controlcommunication between the two compartments.

4. A super for beehives comprising a receptacle having a bee compartmentand a comb-frame compartment, the bee-compartment having anentrance-opening in the bottom thereof, a screen-cover for the top ofthe bee-compartment, means for controlling communication between the twocompartments, and a removable cover for the receptacle.

5. A super for beehives comprising a receptacle divided into abee-compartment and a comb-frame compartment, the bee-compartment havingan entrance-opening in the bottom thereof, a screen-cover for the top ofthe bee-compartment, means to control communication between the two compartments,a hinged side for the comb-frame compartment, and a removablecover for the receptacle, the hinged side capable of being openedwithout removing the cover.

6. A super for beehives comprising a receptacle divided into anintermediate bee-compartment and opposite comb-frame compartments, thebee-compartment having an entrance-opening in the bottom thereof, thewalls between the compartments being provided with openings, slides forcontrolling the openings, hinged sides for the comb-frame compartments,a screen-cover for the beecompartment, and a removable cover for thedevice.

7. The combination with a beehive having an exit-opening in the topthereof, of a super removably supported upon the top of the beehive anddivided into an entrance-compartment and comb-frame compartments, thewalls between the entrance-compartment and the comb-frame compartmentsbeing provided with openings, the bottom of the entrancecompartmentbeing provided with an opening registering with the exit-opening in thetop of the beehive, and means to control communication between thebee-compartment and the comb-frame compartments.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own 1 have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

XVILBERN lV. DEMPSEY.

Vitnesses:

A. J. TATUM, O. J. FREY.

